If you have a larger flock of ducks and they have not all been raised together, you have been adding some ducks here and there, a duck went broody and raised some ducklings, you rescued some,…
Your flock will inevitably break up into smaller groups during their free-ranging time.
One of the groups here, i call them the »Puddle-Ducks« after the huge puddle in front of that clogged drainage pipe that they use and viciously defend as their private pond, that group consists of the remaining 2019 Spring ducklings plus another drake.
So there are Blanca and Earthquack Duck, the White Layers. There are Pompom, Pommes and Pinball Duck, the should be Magpie, but looking like Black Swedish ducks. There is Erpelchen Drake, Olivia and Violeta Duck the Buff Orpingtons. Joined by Rusty Drake who was hatched and raised by Pinball Duck last Summer.
Those Puddle Ducks are the most curious and cheeky ducks i have in the flock, they discovered that huge puddle and it was them who made a field-trip to the creek down at the dangerous country-road on March 13th:
This afternoon i was in the middle of a conference call with an important customer at the west-coast i peeked out of my home-office window and yet again the Puddle-Ducks were on the driveway, all nine of them - stop the video at 22 seconds and count them, nine ducks - also look how conscientiously Rusty Drake (in the middle of the driveway) watches out for danger:
I apologized to the customer »Just a minute, please!«, ran out of the back door, whistled and clapped my hands. They looked up, saw me standing there, turned around and ran back towards their puddle!
About 1½ hours later: »The weekend starts right here!«
Went outside - Karen Duck heart me, came running and demanded to speak with the manager! We had a brief discussion and as usual i caved in and gave her and the other ducks some extra-catfood.
Remembered the Puddle-Ducks, filled some catfood into a container and walked towards the puddle. -
Puddle Ducks are not in their puddle. Walked around the house - they're all sitting in front of the garage door, see the container and come all running to me and eat cat food out of my hands, all eight of them!
Wait there's Blanca, Earthquack, the Maggies, Erpelchen, Rusty and Olivia. Where is Violeta Duck!
Calm down, she will be around the corner, she's just taking a nap! - Dang! No duck around the corner!
"Rusty, Erpelchen! What happened to Violeta?" - "Rasp! Rasp! Raaaaasp!"
I wish i'd speak drake!
On the other hand: Those eight are not startled, they act pretty normal, they would be very different if one of them had been taken by a predator…
Carp! We got packages delivered in the afternoon, maybe they were back on the driveway and the truck…
I almost panic, walk the driveway all the way down to the mailbox, looking left and right, hoping not to find a pile of feathers. No trace of Violeta Duck!
Rush back up, search the area around the puddle and walk through the passage-way to our new neighbors.
They are playing outside with their huge German Shepherd - one bite and… 
Pull myself together and ask them if they have seen one of my ducks. Nope! - The shepherd is actually a canine police officer and very well trained, one short word and he sat down and was only watching me. Dog police officers do not eat ducks, do they?
Walk slowly back to house and the reality starts to sink in: I have lost one of my favorite ducks today!
Gone without a trace!
.
.
.
Devastated i grab the egg basket, walk to the duck house, pull on the gloves and start to collect today's eggs. - One, two, three.
What kind of predator this time?
Four five, seven, nine.
Can't be the hawk, i would have found some feathers at least. A larger bird of prey? - But neither the ducks nor the crows yelled "air raid!"
Eleven, twelve, Fourteen, - Twenty.
What? Twenty? - Wow! They laid six eggs into one nest! - But what the duck has happened to Violeta?
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-four.
Only one cardboard box remaining, that's Blanca's nest.
My hand touches a warm fluffy mass…
Angry QUACK! - SNAP! - OUCH!!!
What the - DUCK!?!
Violeta! - What are you doing in here! - Quack, quack, quaaaak, screech!
There she is:
First i thought she went broody even though she never showed any of the broody-symptoms, but about 30 minutes later she was back together with her group at the puddle. I went back into the duck house and recovered the last two eggs. (26 eggs in total today!)
It seems she is a late layer and a very conscientious duck! She must have run all the way from the puddle, around the house through the yard and into the duck house to lay her egg!
That would also explain how on some days there are 29 eggs from 28 ducks…
Your flock will inevitably break up into smaller groups during their free-ranging time.
One of the groups here, i call them the »Puddle-Ducks« after the huge puddle in front of that clogged drainage pipe that they use and viciously defend as their private pond, that group consists of the remaining 2019 Spring ducklings plus another drake.
So there are Blanca and Earthquack Duck, the White Layers. There are Pompom, Pommes and Pinball Duck, the should be Magpie, but looking like Black Swedish ducks. There is Erpelchen Drake, Olivia and Violeta Duck the Buff Orpingtons. Joined by Rusty Drake who was hatched and raised by Pinball Duck last Summer.
Those Puddle Ducks are the most curious and cheeky ducks i have in the flock, they discovered that huge puddle and it was them who made a field-trip to the creek down at the dangerous country-road on March 13th:
I apologized to the customer »Just a minute, please!«, ran out of the back door, whistled and clapped my hands. They looked up, saw me standing there, turned around and ran back towards their puddle!
About 1½ hours later: »The weekend starts right here!«
Went outside - Karen Duck heart me, came running and demanded to speak with the manager! We had a brief discussion and as usual i caved in and gave her and the other ducks some extra-catfood.
Remembered the Puddle-Ducks, filled some catfood into a container and walked towards the puddle. -
Puddle Ducks are not in their puddle. Walked around the house - they're all sitting in front of the garage door, see the container and come all running to me and eat cat food out of my hands, all eight of them!
Wait there's Blanca, Earthquack, the Maggies, Erpelchen, Rusty and Olivia. Where is Violeta Duck!
Calm down, she will be around the corner, she's just taking a nap! - Dang! No duck around the corner!
"Rusty, Erpelchen! What happened to Violeta?" - "Rasp! Rasp! Raaaaasp!"
I wish i'd speak drake!
On the other hand: Those eight are not startled, they act pretty normal, they would be very different if one of them had been taken by a predator…
Carp! We got packages delivered in the afternoon, maybe they were back on the driveway and the truck…
I almost panic, walk the driveway all the way down to the mailbox, looking left and right, hoping not to find a pile of feathers. No trace of Violeta Duck!
Rush back up, search the area around the puddle and walk through the passage-way to our new neighbors.
They are playing outside with their huge German Shepherd - one bite and… Pull myself together and ask them if they have seen one of my ducks. Nope! - The shepherd is actually a canine police officer and very well trained, one short word and he sat down and was only watching me. Dog police officers do not eat ducks, do they?
Walk slowly back to house and the reality starts to sink in: I have lost one of my favorite ducks today!
Gone without a trace!
.
.
.
Devastated i grab the egg basket, walk to the duck house, pull on the gloves and start to collect today's eggs. - One, two, three.
What kind of predator this time?
Four five, seven, nine.
Can't be the hawk, i would have found some feathers at least. A larger bird of prey? - But neither the ducks nor the crows yelled "air raid!"
Eleven, twelve, Fourteen, - Twenty.
What? Twenty? - Wow! They laid six eggs into one nest! - But what the duck has happened to Violeta?
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-four.
Only one cardboard box remaining, that's Blanca's nest.
My hand touches a warm fluffy mass…
Angry QUACK! - SNAP! - OUCH!!!
What the - DUCK!?!
Violeta! - What are you doing in here! - Quack, quack, quaaaak, screech!
There she is:
First i thought she went broody even though she never showed any of the broody-symptoms, but about 30 minutes later she was back together with her group at the puddle. I went back into the duck house and recovered the last two eggs. (26 eggs in total today!)
It seems she is a late layer and a very conscientious duck! She must have run all the way from the puddle, around the house through the yard and into the duck house to lay her egg!
That would also explain how on some days there are 29 eggs from 28 ducks…
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